According to John Doorley, academic director of the master of science degree program in PR and corporate communication at New York University, there are five predictable yet avoidable behaviors that organizations typically engage in when a crisis breaks that get in the way of effective and rapid response. Doorley and co-author Helio Fred Garcia explore crises and other PR topics in their book Reputation Management (Routledge, 2011).
1. Ignore the problem: Management seems unaware and is surprised by a crisis others saw coming, or that they themselves were warned about but chose not to take seriously.
2. Compartmentalize the problem or the solution: Management mistakenly defines the crisis or its solution as specific to a depart- ment or division, while stakeholders view the problem as an enterprise-wide crisis and expect an enterprise-wide response.
3. Tell misleading half-truths: Management tries to misdirect attention by speaking literally true statements with the intention of mis- leading, challenging whistle-blowers to uncover the full story.
4. Tell only part of the story: Management reveals only the smallest amount of bad news it feels compelled to daily, but keeps repeating the cycle, leading to multiple bad news days.
5. Over-confess: Management turns public statements into therapeutic sessions in which they unburden themselves of pent-up frustrations.
PR News Subscribers can read more about crisis management in the case study: "After the BP Oil Spill, a Single Voice Helps Inform Public That the State of Louisiana Is Open for Business."